Increased Swell Causes Big Upsets On Day 2 O’Neill U.S. Open Of Surfing

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) North America
The Honda U.S. Open pres. by O’Neill (ASP WQS 6-Star)
O’Neill U.S. Open Pro Junior (ASP Grade-2 Pro Junior)
S3 Supergirl Pro Junior (ASP Grade-2 Pro Junior)
O’Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding
Huntington Beach, California, United States of America
July 18-27, 2008
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA (Saturday, July 19, 2008) – The GO211 LIVE feat. the Honda U.S. Open pres. by O’Neill resumed competition this morning with an increase in combination swell, hitting in the two-to-four foot (1 metre) range, providing contestable canvases for the hundreds of competitors that would hit the water by day’s end.

Today’s competition played host to a variety of surfing, including Rounds 2 and 3 of the Trials for the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 6-Star men’s event, the completion of the first two rounds of the ASP Grade-2 O’Neill U.S. Open Pro Junior pres. by Honda, the first two rounds of the O’Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding pres. by Honda and Round 1 of the ASP Grade-2 S3 Supergirl Pro Junior.
Chris Salisbury (Newport, AUS) delivered the upset of the day, defeating defending U.S. Open Pro Junior champion Tonino Benson (Kona, HI) and current No. 2 on the 2008 ASP North America Pro Junior Series, Travis Beckmann (Vero Beach, FL), in the Round of 64.
“It feels good to get the win because Tonino (Benson) is probably the best guy in this contest,” Salisbury said. “Surfing the last event made me feel way more at home in Huntington and I’ve been staying at Quinn McCrystal’s house, so I feel really at home here now.”
Kiron Jabour (North Shore, HI), who put on an outstanding performance in yesterday’s competition, was in dominating form again today. Jabour’s victory today eliminated 2006 ASP North America Pro Junior Champion Eric Geiselman (New Smyrna Beach, FL) from O’Neill U.S. Open Pro Junior competition.
“I’m psyched to beat Eric (Geiselman), he’s a really good surfer,” Jabour said. “He has a few titles and he’s a big name, so the win feels good. We were sitting for a while in our heat and the surf was pretty inconsistent. Then I got one good score, and my backup score wasn’t that great, but I managed to get what I needed to get through.”
Current ASP North America Pro Junior ratings leader Cory Arrambide (Ventura, CA) led his heat throughout its entirety, claiming a win over North Shore charger Mason Ho (North Shore, HI), who advanced behind Arrambide in second.
“I kind of had a shocker in the Semifinals of the last event, so I’m looking to get a better result here,” Arrambide said. “I got lucky out there today. I sat in the wrong spot, and I only got two okay waves.”
Arrambide will advance his ratings lead over Beckmann, who was unable to advance out of Round 2 today.
John John Florence (North Shore, HI) posted the highest combined heat score in the ASP Pro Junior event today, with a 15.50 out of 20 points, as he powered through his heat over Matt Pagan (Los Angeles, CA), Blake Jones (Melbourne Beach, FL) and Alejo Muniz (Florianopolis, BRA)
The O’Neill U.S. Open Pro Junior competition will resume tomorrow at 8:40am with the Round of 32 with finalists being determined before the day is through.
The ASP Grade-2 S3 Supergirl Pro Junior saw the Semifinalists decided today, as the Round of 16 was completed this afternoon at South Huntington Beach Pier.
Sally Fitzgibbons (Gerroa, AUS ), who recently made ASP history as the earliest ASP WQS competitor to qualify for the ASP Women’s World Tour, posted the highest single-wave score of 9.50 out of possible 10, as well as the highest heat total of 15.83 out of 20 in today’s S3 Supergirl Pro Junior. Fitzgibbons will use her heat victory as a warm up for the remainder of the U.S. Open.
“I’m really happy to have qualified by this time of the year, and I was just so happy to get those results,” Fitzgibbons said. “Now that the pressure is off for qualification I can relax and have fun. Surfing in the S3 Supergirl Pro Junior is a great warm up because there are so many talented girls over here. It was pretty inconsistent today, but it was great to see swell here. Whoever got that one wave today was the one who was going to win the heat.”
Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, CA), who finished in the Semifinals in the women’s U.S. Open last year, picked up where she left off last season, trouncing her opponents in the afternoon conditions.
“I’m pretty excited because there’s definitely some really good competition here this year,” Conlogue said. “It’s nice to have our ASP Pro Junior back, I’m pretty stoked. Surfing in the Pro Junior gets you ready for the big girls, so surfing in this event is going to get me ready for the big guns. I was stoked to get that win because there were not many waves that offered up good score potential.”
Sage Erickson (Ventura, CA), who was awarded a wildcard entry into the ASP WQS women’s main event, claimed a heat victory in the remaining minutes of her heat ASP Pro Junior heat today. Erickson stole the lead over international threat Lee Anne Curren (Hossegor, FRA), bumping Curren into second position.
“I’m really excited that O’Neill gave me the opportunity to be in the U.S. Open, but of course I’m more focused on the Juniors because that is my age bracket,” Erickson said.
Coco Ho (North Shore, HI) was a standout performer today in women’s ASP Pro Junior event today dominated her heat from start to finish posting an solid combined heat score of 13.83 which was enough to knock 2008 ASP North America Pro Junior women’s champion Christa Alves (Cocoa Beach, FL) out of the event.
“I’m glad we finally got a women’s event back at the U.S. Open,” Ho said. “The conditions are kind of tricky because it’s kind of closing out, but we’re really lucky to have waves.”
Amongst the high performance shortboard action, the O’Neill U.S. Open of Longboarding saw classic lines drawn by some of the longboard community’s finest.
The GO211 LIVE featuring the Honda U.S. Open presented by O’Neill men’s trials saw no shortage of action today, with the explosive field of surfers battling for the eight spots available in the ASP WQS 6-Star main event beginning on Monday, July 21, 2008.
Alejo Muniz (Florianopolis, BRA), Clay Marzo (Lahaina, HI), Michael Hoisington (Huntington Beach, CA), Granger Larsen (Lahaina, HI), Chase Newsom (Huntington Beach, CA) and Dane Ward (San Clemente, CA) gave some of the finest performances of the men’s trials event so far, and they’ll return tomorrow to vie for the eight seeds into the main event.
The eight spots available for the ASP WQS 6-Star main event will be decided in the Quarterfinals tomorrow morning beginning at 8am
O’Neill U.S. Open Pro Junior pres. by Honda Results:
Round of 96 (1st and 2nd advance)
Heat 13: Andrew Doheny (USA) 13.03, Spencer Regan (USA) 12.84, Charly Martin (GLP) 11.07
Heat 14: Tamaroa McComb (AUS) 13.60, Gabe Garcia (USA) 12.00, Kyle McGeary (USA) 8.07, Cody Sammons (USA) 3.43
Heat 15: Ryan Burch (USA) 10.93, Matt Pagan (USA) 10.20, Evan Kane (USA) 9.37, Matt Gallagher (USA) 4.87
Heat 16: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 13.17, Rob Kelly (USA) 11.20, Keale Chung (HAW) 8.50, Ashley King (USA) 6.00